Cabinet Office

The Coronation Oath

Oliver Dowden: On 6th May 2023, the Coronation of Their Majesties will take place. The King will take the oath prescribed by the Coronation Oath Act 1688. The precise form of words has been varied over successive coronations to reflect changes to the constitutional position. As set out to the House in a statement by the then Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill on 25 February 1953, with one exception, the changes to the oath have been made without express legislative authority.For the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953, changes were made to the oath without express legislative authority to reflect the constitutional position. Some updating to the wording of the oath is required to reflect the current position as regards the Realms and Territories, whose number has evolved since the Coronation of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, and who will be referred to collectively. As Churchill set out, the position was considered carefully in both 1937 and 1953; and it has been again for HM The King’s coronation. I propose to follow the same approach as then, that no express legislative authority is required to make the changes on the basis that they are to ensure consistency with the position regarding the Realms and Territories, as reflected in legislation. This follows the clear and consistent approach taken in 1953 as per the statement given by the then Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill, which I have appended to this Written Ministerial Statement.Coronation Oath - Winston Churchill (pdf, 62.1KB)

Department for Science, Innovation and Technology

Online Safety Bill - Government Amendments at Lords Committee Stage

Michelle Donelan: I am repeating the following Written Ministerial Statement made today in the other place by My Noble Friend, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, the Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay:Following commitments made in the House of Commons, HM Government has tabled a number of amendments to the Online Safety Bill. These will improve the regulatory framework by strengthening protections for internet users, particularly children, reflecting the Bill’s primary objective of keeping children safe online.Senior Management LiabilityThese amendments will strengthen the accountability of online services by making providers and senior managers criminally liable for failures to comply with steps set out in a confirmation decision, when those steps relate to specific child safety duties. As promised in the House of Commons, we based our approach on provisions in the Irish Online Safety and Media Regulation Act (2022) which introduced individual criminal liability for failure to comply with a notice to end contravention. The offence will be punishable with up to two years imprisonment. In conjunction with the existing clause 178 (liability of corporate officers for offences), this fulfils the commitment made in the House of Commons to create a new offence which captures instances where senior managers, or those purporting to act in that capacity, have consented to or connived in ignoring enforceable requirements, risking serious harm to children.I would like to thank my friends, the Right Honourable Member for Stone, and the Honourable Member for Peninstone and Stockbridge, for all of their hard work and dedication in this area. The tabled amendment will provide the legal certainty needed for the offence to act as an effective deterrent, and to be prosecuted effectively.Recognised News Publisher content – “taking action”This amendment has been tabled to clarify that Category 1 services need to notify recognised news publishers and offer a right of appeal before action is taken against their content for a suspected breach of terms of service, and not in relation to routine or personalised content curation. This amendment will also ensure that platforms are not prevented from displaying warning labels on content encountered by children.Duty to publish a summary of illegal and child safety risk assessmentsThese amendments will require the providers of the largest services to publish summaries of their risk assessments for illegal content and content that is harmful to children. These platforms must also supply Ofcom with records of those risk assessments. These amendments will increase the level of transparency regarding these platforms’ approaches to safety, and the risk of harm on their services. This will empower parents and other internet users to make informed decisions when choosing whether and how to use them.Statutory consultees: Victims’, Domestic Abuse, and Children's CommissionersThese amendments to the Bill name the Victims’, Domestic Abuse and Children’s Commissioners as statutory consultees for Ofcom. Ofcom will be required to consult each Commissioner in the course of preparing a draft code. This will ensure that the voices of children and victims of abuse – including victims of violence against women and girls – are properly considered during implementation of the framework.Priority offencesThese amendments seek to add priority offences to strengthen the Bill’s illegal content duties. Providers will be required proactively to tackle content and activity amounting to these offences.First, we are seeking to add the controlling or coercive behaviour offence. This will add to the existing protections in the Bill for women and girls, to ensure providers design and operate their services to protect women and girls from this behaviour when it occurs on their platforms.Second, and with thanks to my Honourable friend the Member for Dover and my Right Honourable friend the Member for South Holland and The Deepings for raising this important issue, we are adding new offences relating to illegal immigration and modern slavery, to ensure the Bill does more to prevent services being used to facilitate these crimes.The Government is also tabling a technical amendment to add the foreign interference offence being introduced by the National Security Bill to the list of priority offences in Schedule 7. This amendment will ensure that the Online Safety Bill requires social media firms to identify and root out state-backed disinformation. This provision was originally included in the National Security Bill, but as that is likely to receive Royal Assent before the Online Safety Bill the provision will instead be included in the Online Safety Bill to ensure clarity of legislation.Recognised News Publisher definitions (sanctioned entities)This amendment will ensure that any entity which is designated for the purposes of sanctions regulations does not qualify as a “recognised news publisher” under the Bill, and therefore will not benefit from the protections reserved for such publishers.The Government is also tabling a number of technical amendments to the Bill. These amendments will resolve technical drafting issues, provide further legal clarity for business, and ensure the Bill is as effective as possible. These include:Communications offencesThis amendment extends the false and threatening communications offences, which currently only apply to England and Wales, to Northern Ireland. In the absence of an Executive in Northern Ireland, the process for securing legislative consent for this extension cannot be commenced. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) is in regular contact with the Northern Ireland Civil Service, who are content that the Department proceed without the approval of the Executive. Following engagement with the UK Government, the Scottish Government has decided not to introduce these offences at this time.Permissive extentThis amendment introduces a permissive extent clause which will allow the Bailiwick of Guernsey and Isle of Man to extend the provisions of the Bill to Guernsey or the Isle of Man in the future.Funding changesThis amendment comprises small, technical changes to the Bill to facilitate the structure of funding for the regime, with fees expected to be charged from the financial year 2025/26 or later. As previously announced, Ofcom will be expected to recover the initial costs of setting up the regulatory regime and meet their ongoing costs by charging fees to regulated services with revenue at or above a set threshold.Proactive technologyThis amendment clarifies that Ofcom can only recommend or require the use of content moderation technology for the illegal content, children’s safety, and fraudulent advertising duties. This is in line with existing policy to ensure there are strong safeguards for freedom of expression and privacy. This does not affect the tech-neutral nature of the Bill, and Ofcom will be able to recommend a range of technologies which companies can use to fulfil their duties.The amendments detailed in this statement will ensure that the Online Safety Bill presents the right balance in its provisions for the safety of children and adults online, whilst ensuring the regime remains proportionate and future-proof.